Out-of-work accountant, wearing sandwich board, pleads for a job

Published 12:51 am, Tuesday, September 1, 2009

BRIDGEPORT -- The economic slump that began nearly a year ago has left a trail of frustration and broken dreams for millions across the nation.

Wilson Lauture knows that trail well. He lost his job as an accountant at the end of tax season in April. Since then, he's only been able to find menial work for minimum wage.

Lauture, a 50-year-old Stamford resident, has a master's degree in business from the University of New Haven. Despite those credentials, he was standing at the corner of State Street and Lafayette Boulevard on Friday afternoon, wearing a sandwich-board sign that described his plight.

His two sons were in tow, also wearing sandwich signs. Despite the wilting August heat, all three were dressed in suits and ties.

"Can anyone help my dad get a job?" one sign pleaded.

His sons, Widky, 12, and Marcus, 8, didn't have the faces of youngsters enjoying a sun-splashed day, but rather grim masks of desperation.

"In the last six months, I have had two interviews, but nothing came up," he said.

Lauture, a native of Haiti, lost his accounting job three months after buying a three-bedroom condominium. As with millions nationwide, he's stuck with real estate that's difficult to sell and a mortgage that he can't afford.

"A minimum wage is not a living wage, especially with two sons to support," he noted.

His wife, Marie-Nicole, also works for low wages as a cashier at a food mart in Greenwich.

He said he came to Bridgeport to dramatize his plight because he has relatives there.

The Lautures also took their sandwich-board message to Washington a few weeks ago. "I wanted to let our leaders know that the country is confronting some very serious economic times," he said.